XLAB Turbo Wing Rear Dual Water Bottle System

SKU: XLAB_Turbo_Wing_Rear_Dual_Water_Bottle_System

XLAB Rear Carrier Buying Guide

by Katherine A. Roccasecca

XLAB rear carriers offer variety, flexibility, choice, and customization for on-the-bike hydration and storage. That’s great—wonderful even—but it has a downside. How do you figure out which one you want?

How many bottles can they carry? Which carriers are made to mount directly to certain seatposts? What about compatibility with special saddles? What bags can be attached to which carriers?

Why isn’t there a chart that makes all this clear?

We made a chart! (Well, actually, we made three.) Now, it’s almost simple to find the right carrier. Just walk step by step through the information in this XLAB rear carrier buying guide.

Do you want to carry one water bottle or two?

All the Delta carriers hold one water bottle and come with a water bottle cage.

The Mini Wing Kit comes with two cages to hold two bottles.

All the other Wing carriers (Turbo Wing, Super Wing, Super Wing SMP, Carbon Wing 400i, Sonic Wing, and Carbon Sonic Wing) have the ability to mount two cages, one on each side of the wing. The Super Wing, Super Wing SMP, and Carbon Wing 400i have the option to instead mount just a single cage on the back of the wing. With all these carriers, the cages are sold separately.

How are you going to mount the carrier?

Typically, XLAB rear carriers mount to the saddle rails. The following carriers mount this way:

Mini Wing Kit

Turbo Wing

Super Wing

Super Wing SMP

Carbon Wing 400i

Delta 100

Delta 200

Delta 225

Delta 400

Delta 425

Some seat posts (found on the Quintana Roo PRsix and some Cervélo bikes) have two mounting holes. You can attach the following carriers directly to this type of seatpost:

Sonic Wing

Carbon Sonic Wing

Delta 300

There is a 10 mm horizontal rear hole found in the seatpost of the Cervélo P5, 2013 Cervélo P3, Scott Plasma, Kestrel 4000, Fuji D6, Fuji Norcom Straight, and BH Aero. XLAB makes the following single bottle carriers for this mounting hole:

Delta Sonic

Delta Sonic XL

Do you have a saddle with issues?

This chart covers the most common saddle issues. "Yes" indicates that the carrier is generally compatible, and "no" indicates that it is not.

XLAB’s dual rear carriers can be used with ISM saddles with transition hooks, but there are some considerations with the Sonic Wing and Carbon Sonic Wing. If your seat clamp is in the rear position, the wing will need to be inverted to avoid the transition hook. If your seat clamp is in the forward position, you may not need to invert it.

The ISM saddles with transition hooks interfere with Delta carriers in some cases. The Delta 100 and 200 simply won’t work with these saddles, but the Delta 225 comes with a bracket that curves around the hook. The Delta 425 is designed to fit with the hook. The Delta 300, Delta Sonic, and Delta Sonic XL work fine.

Because of the saddle rail angle of Selle SMP saddles, the only saddle rail mounted carrier that is compatible with them is the Super Wing SMP. The carriers that mount to the seatpost are fine with Selle SMP saddles.

FIZIK and other carbon rail saddles may require adapters to install XLAB rear carriers. The Carbon Railed Saddle Installation Hardware is included with the Carbon Wing 400i and is available for the Super Wing, Turbo Wing, Delta 400, and Delta 425. The Delta Adaptor for Carbon Railed Saddles is available for the Delta 100, 200, and 225.

If you want the Delta Sonic and have your seat toward the rear of the seatpost, you should get the Delta Sonic XL. It has a longer rod and can sit farther back.

There are other saddles with issues. For example, the ISM Attack and PN 1.1 are very narrow and the only saddle rail mounted Delta carrier they are compatible with is the Delta 425.

Now, what can you carry with your XLAB rear carrier?

Water is kind of the point…

All the Delta carriers and the Mini Wing Kit come with water bottle cages, so you don't need to purchase them separately. The Delta 100 has a P-Cage and the other Delta carriers have a Gorilla XT. The Mini Wing Kit comes with two P-Cages.

If you get the any of the Wing carriers (other than the Mini Wing Kit), you get to choose your cages. The P-Cage, Gorilla, and Gorilla XT are all designed to not launch bottles when used on a rear carrier. We recommend the Gorilla or Gorilla XT.

The nylon/fiberglass P-Cage is the least expensive. It weighs 62 grams and holds your bottle with five pounds of grip force.Buy P-Cage Now

The carbon Gorilla Cage is the lightest cage at 39 grams. It has seven pounds of grip.Buy Gorilla Cage Now

The Multi-Strike Repair Holder holds a bunch of repair supplies. The CO2 side holds two CO2 cartridges and one inflator (either the Nanoflator or Speed Chuck). The multi-holder side can hold a tube and tire levers for clincher setups, or hold a tubular tire and inflating foam sealant for tubular setups. (You must purchase the Multi-Strike Tubular Strap if storing a tubular tire.)

The Multi-Strike Repair Holder is compatible with the following carriers:

Let’s talk bags…

XLAB makes three bags for their Wing carriers: Mini Bag, Mezzo Bag, and Mega Bag. The old name of the Mezzo was Tire Bag, and the Mega was the Kona Bag. The new names pretty much mean small, medium, and large and are easy to keep straight.

All three of these bags can be used as regular seat bags when there is no rear carrier in place.

The 24-cubic-inch Mini Bag typically carries tube, tire levers, Nanoflator, patch kit, and two 16 gram CO2 cartridges. If you put your inflation on an X-Nut/Sonic Nut, then you’l have room for your cell phone, cash, and keys. The Mini Bag is included with the Mini Wing Kit.

The 53-cubic-inch Mezzo Bag is large enough to carry a tubular tire or two tubes along with your tire levers, multitool, patch kit, etc. The zippered side pocket can hold three CO2 cartridges and a Nanoflator.

The Aero Pouch 300 is the storage solution for the metal Delta systems. It can hold tube, CO2 cartridges, inflator, tire levers, patches, and multi-tool. Alternately, the XLAB Tire Mate fits inside. The Aero Pouch 300 provides storage for the following carriers:

Delta 300

Delta 400

Delta 425

Delta Sonic

Delta Sonic XL

Note that the Aero Pouch 300 and the Multi-Strike Repair Holder cannot be used at the same time.Buy Aero Pouch 300 Now

Strap some more stuff on…

All the dual carriers (except the Mini Wing Kit) come with straps to attach bags, spare tires, spare tubes, jackets, and other things.

There are three strap sets for the Wing systems, but the name of the set is only important if you lose them and need to order replacements. The Turbo Wing, Sonic Wing, and Carbon Sonic Wing come with X-Straps. XCW Straps are designed specifically for the Carbon Wing. XSW Straps are the Super Wing and Super Wing SMP straps.Buy X-Straps NowBuy XCW Straps NowBuy XSW Straps Now

You will need a longer strap to carry a tubular tire on the Multi-Strike Repair Holder than is included with the holder. The long strap from the XCW set is sold separately for this purpose.Buy Tubular Strap Now

Have you decided which one you want?

We hope this XLAB rear carrier buying guide has answered all your questions and you are ready to order online now. The product name in each chart is a link to that product!

However, if you do have any additional questions, give us a call at 515-963-2445 and we'll be happy to help you out!

This article was originally posted on September 27, 2013. It is kept up-to-date with new XLAB product information.

Details

XLAB Turbo Wing Rear Dual Water Bottle System

The XLAB Turbo Wing is your choice for a well made, low cost, easy to use, fast rear carrier with versatile storage.

Start with the XLAB Turbo Wing mounted to the rear of the seat of your road, TT, or triathlon bike and carry water bottles, CO2 and inflator, tubes and tires, tire levers, and/or a bag in your wind shadow for the fastest way to carry fluids and gear. Basically, all your gear "drafts" behind you.

The Turbo Wing comes with two X-Straps to carry tubes and tires, tire levers, or bags. Add one or two cages to hold standard water bottles. Add the XLAB Sonic Nut to carry CO2 cartridges and an inflator. Add a bag for additional storage.

Features

3 carrier mounting positions, 5 cage angles

Tunnel-proven zero drag in high position, easy step over in low position